There are various prior art ball like toys, similar in some respects to yo-yos and paddle balls attached to a paddle, having cords attached to the ball so that they may be thrown and retrieved, as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 439,396 to W. French, Oct. 28, 1890; U.S. Pat. No. 667,563 to F. Oakley, Feb. 5, 1901; U.S. Pat. No. 672,099 to W. Jackson, Apr. 16, 1901; U.S. Pat. No. 729,473 to D. Wilson, May 26, 1902; U.S. Pat. No. 1,632,825 to C. Diebold, Jun. 21, 1927; U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,133 to B. Cirita, Feb. 24, 1976; U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,268 to T. Lindgren, Nov. 28, 1978 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,451 to T. Mitchell, Sep. 19, 1989.
However, the prior art has not taken into account some critical factors related to the dynamic performance of retrievable balls attached to cords. For example, when balls are thrown out and reach the end of the cord, the dynamic impact force tends to rip the cord from the ball, thus making the cord-to-ball joint critical. Further, the manner in which the cord is held by the hand is critical to avoid discomfort, to permit ball control, adjustment of cord length, and to withstand the dynamic impact imposed by the ball. Another factor that is critical to the use of the ball and the way it performs when thrown and caught is the nature of the ball itself and the interaction with the accompanying cord. Particular care must be taken with elastic cords to avoid catastrophic failure and to provide a desired dynamic action in use of the ball. The prior art has not produced a ball satisfactory in these respects. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide improved structure to overcome the foregoing deficiencies.
While, various auxiliary functions aiding and abetting the enjoyment of the ball in use are known as represented by whistles, and return mechanisms within the balls in some of the above cited patents, this invention has the further objective of providing improved functional performance of the ball by means of accompanying novel controls initiated by circumstances encountered in use by the dynamic action of the ball, together with accompanying methods of use of the improved ball structure.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be found throughout the following description.